My wife and I moved outside the city 3 or 4 years ago...

We love our home and love living out "in the country"... however, we
live in a 400+ home neighborhood here in the country.

As a result, there are 2 homes pretty much in my back yard (our
backyards meet). The cool thing about this neighborhood is even though
there are alot of homes, we all have pretty big yards. The first thing
people say when they come to my house for the first time is "Wow, what
a huge backyard!" and it is. The property is a bit over half an acre,
the back yard is not deep, but is VERY long.

We have a privacy fence in the back (which the people behind us use...)
but since they sit on a bit of a small hill, the fence offers privacy
only if they are kneeling in the middle of thier backyard... in
otherwords, no privacy...

Ive seen trees like italian cypress and the like and have considered
planting a long row of them against the fence...

My (and my wifes) concerns...

The fence is old... the trees will eventually grow and push over the
fence... maybe? Doesnt bother me, I dont have kids or dogs, the people
using my fence have both.

spacing... id be afraid a cypress would grow out and crowd the other
cypres trees next to it...

zone and weather... we live in central Alabama. HOT summers, plenty of
rain (no flooding), and beleive it or not, we do have cold winters
(cold = sometimes it gets in the mid 20s, but for no more than a week)

growth speed... I want them to grow fast, i am going to need like 10
feet to get any level of privacy... however, if they get too big, how
on earth would I manage them? just crop the top off or something?

FYI: I am not a landscaper nor designer nor know very much about
plants. A good buddy of mine told us how to design our front garden and
what plants to buy. We followed his suggestions and now have a really
nice front yard. So while I know nothing, I am capable...

thanks in advance!
Jazz Mann

I solved a similar privacy problem by layering with a few different
plants. Cypress grow fast. I tried a Leylandii Cyprus and it is going
on 20 feet tall and is about 8 feet wide. Those may be a nice option
for you. The Italian Cyprus are OK, they grow fast, but never get very
wide, so you have to plant a lot of them.

I also tried hop seed bushes (or Dodonaea). They are very fast and
grow wide. After two years I LOVE my plants. They come in purple and
green. I told my nursery guy I was more interested in height than
color so I wound up with one purple (they are popular) and three green
shrubs that were larger and popping out of their pots. The greens took
off and two years later about 15 feet tall and almost as wide. The
little purple one is about 9 feet tall and only about 4 feet wide. I
attribute some of that to being sandwiched between a butterfly bush
(which I never expected to screen so well) and the larger green hop
seed bush. They have an airy growth habit. I've found that if you
sheer them, they will develop a denser structure.

Both of these plants are suited to my arid climate. They are in their
second year now and should be able to get by with little coddling from
me. When it gets up to 112 degrees in August I'll deep water them. But
for the most part, they're on their own now. I always recommend you
try to use plants native to your area. They are SO much easier - and
you are helping preserve them. You might try searching the USDA Plants
database at http://plants.usda.gov/index.html. You can put in your
requirements and find matching plants and also see photos.

If you plant a few feet away from the fence (or more), the plants
shouldn't do any damage. Since you seem to have room I would suggest
layering with a few different shrubs. It looks nicer and seemed to
fill in nicely for me.
Good luck! Laura


Jazz wrote:
My wife and I moved outside the city 3 or 4 years ago...

We love our home and love living out "in the country"... however, we
live in a 400+ home neighborhood here in the country.

As a result, there are 2 homes pretty much in my back yard (our
backyards meet). The cool thing about this neighborhood is even though
there are alot of homes, we all have pretty big yards. The first thing
people say when they come to my house for the first time is "Wow, what
a huge backyard!" and it is. The property is a bit over half an acre,
the back yard is not deep, but is VERY long.

We have a privacy fence in the back (which the people behind us use...)
but since they sit on a bit of a small hill, the fence offers privacy
only if they are kneeling in the middle of thier backyard... in
otherwords, no privacy...

Ive seen trees like italian cypress and the like and have considered
planting a long row of them against the fence...

My (and my wifes) concerns...

The fence is old... the trees will eventually grow and push over the
fence... maybe? Doesnt bother me, I dont have kids or dogs, the people
using my fence have both.

spacing... id be afraid a cypress would grow out and crowd the other
cypres trees next to it...

zone and weather... we live in central Alabama. HOT summers, plenty of
rain (no flooding), and beleive it or not, we do have cold winters
(cold = sometimes it gets in the mid 20s, but for no more than a week)

growth speed... I want them to grow fast, i am going to need like 10
feet to get any level of privacy... however, if they get too big, how
on earth would I manage them? just crop the top off or something?

FYI: I am not a landscaper nor designer nor know very much about
plants. A good buddy of mine told us how to design our front garden and
what plants to buy. We followed his suggestions and now have a really
nice front yard. So while I know nothing, I am capable...

thanks in advance!
Jazz Mann

Jazz wrote:
My wife and I moved outside the city 3 or 4 years ago...

We love our home and love living out "in the country"... however, we
live in a 400+ home neighborhood here in the country.

As a result, there are 2 homes pretty much in my back yard (our
backyards meet). The cool thing about this neighborhood is even though
there are alot of homes, we all have pretty big yards. The first thing
people say when they come to my house for the first time is "Wow, what
a huge backyard!" and it is. The property is a bit over half an acre,
the back yard is not deep, but is VERY long.

We have a privacy fence in the back (which the people behind us use...)
but since they sit on a bit of a small hill, the fence offers privacy
only if they are kneeling in the middle of thier backyard... in
otherwords, no privacy...

Ive seen trees like italian cypress and the like and have considered
planting a long row of them against the fence...

My (and my wifes) concerns...

The fence is old... the trees will eventually grow and push over the
fence... maybe? Doesnt bother me, I dont have kids or dogs, the people
using my fence have both.

spacing... id be afraid a cypress would grow out and crowd the other
cypres trees next to it...

zone and weather... we live in central Alabama. HOT summers, plenty of
rain (no flooding), and beleive it or not, we do have cold winters
(cold = sometimes it gets in the mid 20s, but for no more than a week)

growth speed... I want them to grow fast, i am going to need like 10
feet to get any level of privacy... however, if they get too big, how
on earth would I manage them? just crop the top off or something?

FYI: I am not a landscaper nor designer nor know very much about
plants. A good buddy of mine told us how to design our front garden and
what plants to buy. We followed his suggestions and now have a really
nice front yard. So while I know nothing, I am capable...

thanks in advance!
Jazz Mann


Maybe build a trellis and plant a vine?

Carl

--
to reply, change ( .not) to ( .net)

Has anyone seen or own any Willow Hybrids?
My wife and I saw them on the net while doing some research, they seem
to grow fast and provide privacy

"Jazz" expounded:

Has anyone seen or own any Willow Hybrids?
My wife and I saw them on the net while doing some research, they seem
to grow fast and provide privacy

Anything that grows 'fast' usually grows fairly weak wood, and isn't
necessarily that long lived.
--
Ann, gardening in Zone 6a
South of Boston, Massachusetts
e-mail address is not checked
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